The Times
by
Albert Pendleton
by
Albert Pendleton
Wherever
Major P.C.
Pendleton
settled in Georgia, he bought and published a newspaper. In
Macon and Savannah he published a literary magazine, The
Magnolia. Major Pendleton moved his family to Valdosta
during the Civil War, after his discharge from service. He
had been with the Georgia 50th Regiment with Lee in
Virginia, Maryland, and the bitter fighting in Gettysburg.
Major Pendleton purchased an old printing press from a
printer at Troupville and part of his equipment came from
Savannah. He founded and published The South Georgia
Times in Valdosta on March 20, 1867. The Times
was a weekly, six columns wide, and only four pages. The
first edition sold for 10 cents a copy, or $3 for an annual
subscription, "invariably in advance." The first issue
includes a description of Valdosta rising up again from the
effects of war, and there is an explanation of the
derivation of the name of Valdosta. Major
H.B. Holliday,
father of the famous dentist who went west, advertised
buggies for sale, and Joshua
Griffin and
C.C.
Varnedoe
were "dealers in family groceries, corn, yarns, calicoes,
potash..." while a new store in town with "dry goods, ladies
dress goods, silver and plated ware, gentlemen's furnishing
goods..." was opened by A.H.
Darnell. Major Pendleton was
killed in a buggy accident in June of 1869, and his sons
Philip
Pendleton, Jr.
and W.F.
Pendleton
published the newspaper. Philip, Jr. died in 1870, and W.F.
and the youngest brother, Dandridge,
moved to Pennsylvania where they ultimately became the first
and second Bishops of the Swedenborgian Church in America.
Charles
and Louis
Pendleton,
the last a writer of some note, published the paper as a
bi-weekly, changing the name to The Valdosta Times.
In 1896, Charles and Louis moved to Macon after Charles
purchased the majority interest in the Macon
Telegraph. In 1889,
Mr. E.L.
Turner, the
son of a Hawkinsville printer, gave up his job at the
Thomasville newspaper to come to Valdosta. As printer, his
salary at The Times was $40 per-month. The publishing
company was incorporated that year with
Charles R.
Pendleton
as the president and W.D.
Peeples as
vice-president. Later D.C.
Ashley,
president of the First National Bank, became president of
the publishing company. In 1905, Mr.
E.L. Turner
was business manager and because of a local interesting
murder trial decided to publish the paper daily; thus it
became The Valdosta Daily Times. Until his death in
1967, at the age of 103, Mr. Turner had spent more time with
The Times, published more news about wars,
depressions, and local history than anyone. He was active in
the paper almost up to the time of his death.
